


recovery

by IWasMeantToFeel



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 05:49:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4467764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWasMeantToFeel/pseuds/IWasMeantToFeel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>after Maxie’s fall into the river, Niska nurses him back to health. Mattie and Leo managed to save his root code, but many basic functions have disappeared. including his ability to read.</p>
            </blockquote>





	recovery

**Author's Note:**

> [A/N] This came from a Tumblr prompt from justlikedaylightsavingstime, ‘Are you still open to fic prompts? What about Niska teaching Maxie to read? (Thanks) :)’  
> I thought this was SUCH a cute prompt… but I also kinda thought ‘Wouldn’t Maxie be able to read already, since he’s a synth and he’s been designed to have extensive knowledge etc’, so in this fic he is recovering from falling into the river and that part of his brain has malfunctioned and Niska is taking care of him. Hope you like.
> 
> ALSO:  
> I haven't got an editor so all mistakes are my own.
> 
> • I don't own Humans. Obviously. I also don’t own ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ – it was my favourite story as a kid though. •

“This is my favourite one!” Sophie points at something at her bookshelf. Niska kneels down beside her and slides the book out.

“Where The Wild Things Are?” she asks dubiously.

“It’s not scary,” Sophie insists. “Well it is a bit, but in a good way.”

“I’m going to trust you on this, okay monkey?” Niska winces at her automatic use of a pet name. She shouldn’t be getting this close to the girl. Like everything else, she’ll soon be torn away from her, and then she’ll be left with a little fluffy six-year-old sized hole in her heart that won’t go away.

“Okay,” Sophie says happily. “Look, it even has a little boy called Max in it!”

Niska opens it up and flicks through the pages. “So it does. Good choice. Should we go downstairs then, Sophie?”

“Yes! I want to read to Maxie!” The child seizes Niska’s hand in her own small, warm one and drags her out of the room and down to the kitchen, where Mattie is sitting with her laptop, and paper spread out all over the table.

“Matts, do you want to read to Maxie with us?” Sophie clamours. Niska can’t help smiling. Obviously the child has noticed how stressed her sister has been the past few days, and has decided to help. Maybe human children aren’t so stupid, after all.

But Mattie only smiles wistfully and runs her fingers through her hair in a worried way. “Sorry, Soph. Way too much coursework. Another time.”

“Okay.” They continue their journey through to the living room, where Maxie is sitting bolt upright on the sofa.

“Niska, Sophie!” He greets them with his trademark wide smile.

“Hello, Maxie,” Niska says. “We’ve found a book we can read together.”

Sophie bounces over to the synth and beckons for Niska. As soon as the blonde has sat down, the child wriggles into her lap. Niska doesn’t know how it always happens, but it does – every single time she sits anywhere in this house, she ends up with a small child in her arms, and try as she might, she can’t find it in herself to care.

She starts by showing Maxie the cover. 

“It’s called Where The Wild Things Are,” Sophie explain, almost proudly. “I chose it for you because I thought you would like it.”

Maxie traces the words on the cover very carefully with one finger. “Where The Wild Things Are,” he says slowly.

“Yes,” Niska tells him. “See, that’s a letter W. It makes a wuh sound.”

“What’s that letter?” Maxie asks, pointing and looking slightly panicked. Niska thinks how strange it must be for him, having all this code whizzing around in his head but not being able to read a single letter.

“That’s a T,” she tells him gently.

“T,” Maxie repeats.

“Shall we open it and read the first bit?” she suggests.

“Yes yes yes!” Sophie says excitedly, bouncing around. Niska rolls her eyes. The child is like a time bomb. One second you thinks she’s settled down, and the next she explodes. It’s nerve-wracking.

Some time later, they’ve only just reached the third page. “That very night in Max’s room a forest grew and grew and grew, until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around, and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max,” Niska read, feeling herself getting lost in the words. Human writing was enjoyable. She’d always loved books, and the way they could conjure up ideas and characters in your head. Maxie smiled every time he heard his name, and Sophie was being quiet in her arms for once, and she wanted to go on reading forever. “And he sailed off through night and day, and in and out of weeks and almost over a year, to where the wild things are.”

“Where are the wild things?” Maxie asks, confused.

“They’re in Wild Thing Land,” Sophie pipes up. “Look at the pictures, Maxie.”

Maxie looks, and a slow smile spreads across his face. “It looks nice,” he says. “What do you think, Niska?”

Niska frowns. “I think the wild things are going to try to hurt him. He’s just a little boy, and look how big they are. He won’t be able to do anything to protect himself.”

“But he can,” Sophie says. “Look, read the next page. He shows them that he’s stronger than them.”

“Oh,” Niska says as she reads. “I see.”

Twenty minutes of slow reading and explaining later, Laura arrives home from work, and Mattie brings Sophie hot chocolate in a mug with rabbits on it. “You sound like you’re having fun,” she smiles, and winks at Niska knowingly. “I remember when I had to read that to Soph every night. It was her favourite.” She sits down on the opposite sofa.

Sophie blows on her hot chocolate. “Read the last bit,” she orders.

“Okay, okay, cheeky.” Niska says, poking her.

Maxie laughs. “Read the last bit, Niska,” he tells her.

So Niska continues. “But Max stepped into his private boat and waved good-bye, and sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day, and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him…”

“And it was still hot,” choruses Sophie and Mattie… and Maxie? They all stare at him, wide-eyed.

“How did you know it said that?” Niska asks.

“I read it,” he says proudly. “You taught me to read!”


End file.
